France to Allow Cell Phone Jamming

ZuperDee writes "According to this article, the French industry minister has approved a decision to allow cinemas, concert halls and theaters to install cell phone jammers, on the condition that emergency calls can still get through."

Comments

Emergency Calls?

[SultanCemil]

How do they allow emergency calls through? Aren't most cell jammers simply frequency based white noise generators?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[LiquidCoooled]

I think thats the icing on the cake.

Being able to say "Yer sure" and not mean it all in the same breath.

Those wanting to block calls sort of get their way, and those who don't want it blocking get to smile as well.

I think this is the best all round decision.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Magickcat]

I quote from the article- "Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

Re:Emergency Calls?

[jrockway]

Exactly what I was thinking. Where are the technical specs for this system? Oh, there aren't any because it's impossible unless there's some support for it in the phone.

What we "need", is a phone that will switch into vibrate mode when it detects a signal. Easy.

I am actually one who is not bothered by phones ringing. It's like coughing or sneezing. Yeah it's disruptive, but it doesn't really distract me from anything. Cell phone goes off in class. Okay, three seconds later it's off and we can continue. Big deal. Sometimes, people need to communicate with each other (and still be in class). It's part of the über-high-tech-life. (or something :)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[mmonkey]

I'm just guessing here, but maybe they could have an on-site picocell or something which the phones will associate with, and then control which calls the cell lets through? Just a thought.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[famebait]

No, GSM jammers of this type work by impersonating the local base stations by responding before them, but not actually letting anything through.

The systems have been available for a few years,
and are apparently very good at blocking out only a well defined area. The stumbling blocks have been entirely legal/regulatory.

I don't know if the available equipment handles it already, but there is no technical reason why the jammer couldn't engage slightly more thoroughly in the transaction and forward select calls.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[mirko]

It does in some ways : we can suspect that the concept is accepted but still requires realisation.
I guess it'll imply some switches set in send only mode along with possible dial limitations (in France, emergency numbers begin with 1, the others begin with 0).

Re:Emergency Calls?

[weighn]

i'd say they would use a white-noise generator and have a member of staff monitor slashdot for emergencies at which point they turn off the white-noise.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[leonmergen]

No it's not. It's irritating when the same (kind of) people always leave their mobiles running, the hip, young, gadget people having their latest top40 tune as their ring tone... now really, when some kind of polyphonic f*cked up version of Usher or whatever starts blasting at way-too-loud volume through a room, or even a cinema, i'm irritated. I turn my mobile off so I won't disturb anyone, I expect the same from others.

Is it really necessary to be reachable while you're at the cinema ? No. And if it is necessary, you shouldn't be at the cinema.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Vellmont]

The only thing that comes to mind is having a special node at the theatre thats essentially a repeater (but doesn't ring the phone or allow outgoing calls to be made). Calls to anyone with a phone from a certain prefix or list of numbers (given to any emergency responders) is allowed through. Think of it like a cell-phone firewall.

If that's how they're planning on doing it I don't know. But there has to be some way of distinguishing emergency calls, or emergency cell phones from normal everyday calls/phones.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[pklong]

Your on to something, but you're not quite there.

Allow the cinemas to install their own Pico Cells in the theatres and jam the outside cells. The pico cell should connect them to the cinema's own mobile operator and charge them 20$ per minute.

They'll think twice next time they get their bill, inconsideratle little twerps ;)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Pieroxy]

That is what I like about this new law. It doesn't force anyone to do anything. It does allow movie theaters to implement something, and the public will decide if they prefer going to a theater that allow cells or not.

And while it might or might not irritate you in a movie theater, think about a real theater, a classical concert or any other public performance where live artists are playing.

In any way, this will have a very democratic implementation: If people rush into these "early adopters" theaters that jam cells, more and more will adopt the system, and the mass will be pleased.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[rishistar]

A mobile going off is not like coughing or sneezing - its more like someone getting up and humming a TV theme song.

And when it goes off in class it usually takes 20 seconds to be turned off as the person hunts around in their bag to find the stupid thing in the first place.

When I was lecturing I had a simple if your phone goes off it gets confiscated until the end of the lecture policy - after week one of that noone left it on.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[imr]

Devedjian is one of the 3 persons that voted yes to software patents in behalf of France and contrary to every promises Chirac made at the last europeen software patent meeting.
Let him be not forgotten.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Threni]

> How do they allow emergency calls through?

People tend to make emergency calls, not receive them. If you want to receive emergency calls then you need to go somewhere where you are able to receive them unimpeded. Perhaps such people can have modified phones which alert the owner to the fact that they are now uncontactable. Of course, this could make more noise than it cures. But as a classical music concert goer, I have to say that if a few people find out that their dog has died or whatever a few hours later than they would normally done then it's a small price to pay for a peaceful musical experience.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Red Pointy Tail]

If this is implemented and my phone ever jangles 2 hours into a movie, I'll probably piss in panic first.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[MmmDee]

Is it really necessary to be reachable while you're at the cinema? No. And if it is necessary, you shouldn't be at the cinema.

You're not a parent, are you... I think by the very nature of "emergency", it's something unplanned. Are you suggesting that anyone/everyone that might have an emergency occur in their life, avoid the cinema? You must be better able to predict those things than most folks I know. To be sure, there's a distinction between, "Like oh my god Britney, James called me and I just had to tell you!" and "Mrs. Johnson, this is Amber the baby sitter, I just noticed that Timothy feels very warm, should I call the pediatrician?" Courtesy suggests remembering to put the phone on vibrate, and to leave the theater's sitting area to take the call. I and many other parents and professionals have had to do this often.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[senatorpjt]

I've had problems with this in the past. If I actually remember to turn my phone off when I enter a theatre, I forget to turn it back on when I leave. I've had fairly serious things happen, such as my friend trying to call me when his brother died because he needed help moving the body. I eventually just set my phone to beep once. What is slashdot's opinion on this? It's set to beep fairly loudly, but it's a quick, short beep. By the time you notice it, it's already over, so I don't think it's in the same league as a phone blaring "Hey Ya" for 45 seconds while someone searches for the button to make it stop.

I'd like to see an option for a "quiet zone signal", which would be a small transmitter put in places like movie theatres, etc, and phones could be equipped with an option to go into silent mode when the signal is present. It would be dirt-cheap to implement from the theatre's end.. it could probably be done for less than $100. The only problem is that everyone would need a new phone. Of course, the way people go through phones these days, if they started implementing this now, most people would have it on their phones in a couple years.

I really think that 99% of people that have their phones start ringing in a movie are embarrassed, and not just trying to piss everyone off - they just forgot to turn the phone off. This way, people could just have this setting enabled on their phone and not have to worry about it.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[sjb2016]

When I went to see "The Matrix" the buy behind me asked if I would move down a seat so that his wife wouldn't be blocked by my head. Being the nice guy that I am, I agreed. No problem. Of course, about half way in he gets a call on his cell and doesn't just hang it up, but conducts a conversation. To show my distaste for his shenanigans, I moved back to my original seat and presumably blocked his wife's view. Was I punishing the wrong person? No, because we all know a wife make a husband do anything she wants, and had she said hang up, he would have.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

there were days without cell phones.. and parents went to the theatre anyway ....

Re:Emergency Calls?

[rtz]

Nope. According to the article;

"Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

So they indeed have to implement some sort of selective jamming.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[The Limp Devil]

And while it might or might not irritate you in a movie theater, think about a real theater, a classical concert or any other public performance where live artists are playing.

I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to have my lectures interrupted by students' cell phones ringing. One student didn't even bother to turn off her cell phone during her oral exam, as we found out when it rang midway through the examination.

I would certainly welcome a cell phone blocker in my class rooms.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[hyc]

There's actually two factors at work here - digital cell phones attenuate their transmit power level based on the strength of the signal they receive. The theory is that if they are receiving a strong signal from a cell tower, they must be very near it physically, so they don't need to use as much power to transmit and be heard by the tower. So the first thing they do is set up a local base station; all the phones will lock in on it because it is the strongest signal around, and they will all reduce their transmit power because the local signal is so strong. So this automatically means your phone will only use the local base station, no other cell towers will be able to hear the weak signal your phones will be putting out.

The region being affected is easily controlled using directional antennas. Most cell towers already use a 120 degree beam spread, so directional antennas are the usual already, but they can certainly use a narrower beam antenna if they want.

As for routing emergency calls, again, the network tells the phone what the phone is allowed to do. No problem there...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[CountBrass]

Trivial. The same way that you handle calls in a large shopping mall or other localised concentration of people. You setup a micro-cell. The difference is the one in the cinema will only route emergency calls; the rest get a recorded message saying "fuck off you sad bastards: try watching the film." QED.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

its easy to jam cell phone signals - they should just move all buildings to North Wales - I can never get a signal on my phone ;)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[famebait]

You can control the affected area even more precisely than that: if you have two or more antennas, you could triangulate the position of a phone and choose whether to service it or not based on its position. Meaning that you can literally draw your block-zone on the map and when you step outside that invisible line, your phone works. (Not sure they actually do, but it's certainly possible.

This also means you don't have to drown out any other transmitters, you can just play man-in the middle: you know which phones are in your zone, if a tower tries to contat it, you say you're it, but can't answer. If a phone tries to contact a tower, you pretend you're it an denies service. All you have to do is be first.

Combined, you have a very robust soloution with a well-defined virtual cage that is "invisible" from the outside but completely "dark" on the inside.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[MmmDee]

Yep, and in another reply here somewhere I mentioned that parents/business people/relatives left phone numbers with others as to where they'd be during the day and evening. It was common to have 4 or 5+ phone numbers on the refrigerator outlining the course of a night's outing (friend's house, restaurant, theater, nightclub). Each of these places knew that someone might call. On arriving to a friend's house, you'd say, "I left your number with the sitter, hope that's okay." Restaurants, theaters, and nightclubs had PA systems or wait-staff and ushers to ask among their patrons looking for recipients of emergency calls. Believe me, "emergencies" are not a creation of the new millennium or the now/me generation. They have been around awhile and people (especially parents) have always pre-arranged someway to be contacted.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[animaal]

It's the responsibility of a surgeon to remain contactable when on-call. This means not having the phone turned off, and not spending time in places where there is no reception (e.g. the cinema with a sign saying "no phone reception here").

Of course, if the cinema doesn't have very obvious warnings, there could be trouble.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Bender Unit 22]

Bah!
I am on call 24/7, people NEED to be able to reach me and I have my phone on in the cinema, but of course I mute it to vibration only and to out side to answer it.
But since the pager network were closed down here a few years ago, the cell phone is the only way people can connect to me.

Don't be so narrow minded.

Plenty of people needs to be available.
Doctors, fire fighters, people waiting for a organ transplant, technicians at your small hosting company.
Specially those working in small towns or companies do not have the luxury of having on site staff 24/7 (that goes for all on the list above).

The problem with the cinema is that I just give the number to the cinema and have them contact me, like at a resturant.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[kariboo]

Yes, It is !
The jamming is selective : it scans the number you dial, and if it is an emergency call (i.e you dial to 15,17,18, 112 in France) then the call is not jammed.

Otherwise, it is jammed.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Kombat]

I eventually just set my phone to beep once. What is slashdot's opinion on this? It's set to beep fairly loudly, but it's a quick, short beep.

Don't all cell phones have a "vibrate" mode?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[jdreed1024]

It does allow movie theaters to implement something, and the public will decide if they prefer going to a theater that allow cells or not.

They better damn well inform me in big letters on the back of my ticket that my cell phone is jammed. I've taken my phone into theaters (on vibrate), and I've had to leave in the middle of shows because I've gotten a call or SMS, but that's something I'm prepared to do, and plenty of people used to have pagers and also had to leave in the middle of the show, so it's nothing new.

Why should I be penalized just because some retard either can't figure out how to turn his phone to vibrate or thinks everyone should hear Mozart's "Ode to the Piezoeletric Buzzer"?

In fact, I'm confused. Everyone gets all up in arms when some big mean company tries to restrict 802.11b, or blocks local hotspots by installing their own for-pay system, or whatever, but when the *movie theaters* (I thought we hated big media and the MPAA?) start jamming cell phone tranmissions (which are more useful than 802.11b to the average user), it's suddenly a great idea? I don't get it.

People with ringtones on in theaters is a social problem. Social problems cannot be solved by technical means. Even if you jam cellphones, they're still going to be talking loudly, or having some kid playing his gameboy, or crying, or throwing popcorn, or whatever. It won't solve anything. What they should do is take the money they were going to use for this, hire a couple of bouncers, and if your cell phone rings, you are asked to leave and you get your money back (or maybe a gift card, to prevent people from getting calls in the last frame of the movie and then getting money back), as per the back of your ticket. End of story.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[ViolentGreen]

Not all, but most do. Even then, I often forget to turn it off of vibrate when I get home and take it out of my pocket. It is my primary phone and it's easy to miss calls if it's on vibrate and not in my pocket.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Midnight Thunder]

Still this only works when sombody calls the emergency number. However there could be someone in the cinema like a surgeon who needs to be able to receive emergency calls! Such a basestation would not recognize such calls.

I suppose one solution to this would be to leave the phone with the cinema and the cinema provides a vibrate only pager. Only the pager would be able to receive a notification. When you're finished you exchange the pager for your cell phone. Those who need to be contacted would be willing to go the extra step.

In a place like a theatre or concert hall you could either have the same solution or notify the hospital before you go in of the theatre's number and your seat number. That way they can contact the theatre and the staff would send someone to get you.

The simplest solution would simply to not go out when you're on call. The only catch some people are on call so frequently that this would simply deprive them of a social life.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Pieroxy]

You are missing the point. The point is not only in movie theaters. Schools, Operas, Concerts, real theaters, etc...

And if people are too stupid to remember to turn their cells off (and apparently they are), then I want to go to a theater where they have no choice. So that I am _sure_ I will not be bothered (at least by that). That is still a little less disturbance.

People will eventually be divided in three categories:
1. The people that don't care, which I suspect will be the vast majority
2. The people that want Phone Jams installed in their favorite theater and that are willing to change theater for that reason.
3. People that want no cell jams.

The ratio between 2 and 3 will rule the implementation of these little things. I am in 2.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[DaScribbler]

The flaw in this line of thinking is your complete lack of discipline in monitoring the functionality of your own phone. You said it yourself, If I actually remember to turn my phone off when I enter a theatre, I forget to turn it back on when I leave.

That's your own negligence for which you should be accountable. As should everybody else who's toting their phones around with them in places where quiet is proper etiquette.

Suddenly there's this HUGE issue of emergency situations and cell phones. As if those of us who were living 20 years ago are extraordinarily lucky to have survived without cell phones. As if the odds were astronomical.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[TGK]

There is an easy way to implement that. A professor of mine had the following line in his syllabus.

"If your cell phone rings during class or during an examination I will answer it. Further, I will deduct five points from your final grade."

A phone went off once in that class. He told the caller in no uncertain terms where the cell phone being called was located and informed them that future calls to that number should be avoided during his class.

He also followed through on the grade policy. It was never a problem again.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Leebert]

I've had problems with this in the past. If I actually remember to turn my phone off when I enter a theatre, I forget to turn it back on when I leave.

Is my phone the only one on the planet that has "Vibrate, then ring"? I get 3 rings of time (about 10 seconds or so) to look at who is calling and answer or push them to voicemail. If I'm not wearing my phone (it's on my dresser at night, for example), I'll hear it after the first 3 rings.

Honestly, I can't why more people don't use that:

1. If I'm in a loud situation (a loud concert, for example), the vibration will get my attention where I might not necessarily hear the ring
2. If I'm in a quiet situation (church or theater), the vibration will get my attention without disturbing others
3. If I take my phone off my belt for whatever reason (charging it in the car, sleeping, throwing the football around, etc.) I'll still hear it when it rolls over to a ring.

I NEVER have to adjust my phone for any situation. Which is good because I'm insanely forgetful.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Civil_Disobedient]

Everyone gets all up in arms when some big mean company tries to restrict 802.11b, [...] but when the *movie theaters* start jamming cell phone tranmissions, it's suddenly a great idea? I don't get it.

Don't be so damned obtuse. Of course you "get it." Cell phones make noise. The wireless aether doesn't.

Now, if people started bringing their PDA's along with them to theaters to play loud or obnoxious games on them while paying customers were trying to watch a movie, you can be sure they'd try and block 802.11b as well.

Don't like it? Tough shit. Why not encourage a whole new line of theaters that are "cell phone friendly" to give your patronage to?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[infinite9]

What constitutes an emergency? What if the babysitter had to call 911? That call would come from my home phone. Fuck the movie, I want that call.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Suidae]

The '80s called, your 386 wants to be your desktop system again.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Suidae]

I'd much rather have the usher come in and whisper to you

right, because he has a magic parent locator that can tell him in what seat you are sitting, and can magicly float over the 20 people between you and the isle.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[golgotha007]

if that's the case, please rent your movies instead. Your conditions are obviously not satisfactory enough to attend a public showing of a film.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[anakin876]

Well, in my experience there are people who also seem to be incapable of noticing that YES it is THEIR phone and who will then leave it ringing for a minute or two.

Especially when the professor starts out the semester by stating that no cell phones should be turned on in his/her class and then to have a cell phone or two go off every day is quite annoying to me. Why not put it on vibrate? Or turn it off? Aren't we supposed to be paying attention to the professor's lecture? It is fairly rare that the phone call is an actual emergency, the few times I have noticed people answering the phone it has been for something like "what are we doing tonight."

Yes it is a lack of respect thing. Whiel I should be able to ignore a cell phone, they should also have the courtesy to turn it off/silence it for a lecture.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[eth1]

"I would certainly welcome a cell phone blocker in my class rooms."

I believe these have been available for some time. They're called 'F's.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Rude Turnip]

If I'm paying thousands of dollars in tuition (and working my ass off to pay that tuition), I would be happy to have a professor that deals with assholes in such a manner. When someone is being disruptive in class and taking away from my educational experience, they need to be bitch-slapped. If you don't have basic manners by the time you reach college, you need some hard knocks for your own good before getting into the real world.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Al Dimond]

As an undergrad student, I'll say that I'm very annoyed by cell phones going off in class. It's the same as the people in the back of the room talking to eachother about the blood-oaths they had to take to join their frat. While I do think that generally in class it's best to ask students to turn off cell phones, in exams I think a penalty is absolutely appropriate. Phones with screens could be used to cheat on exams when students reach to turn them off.

Allowing your phone to go off in class is disrespectful, just as is in-class chatter, and most students go to class to hear the professor and not phone noise.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[DarkAdonis]

I imagine a ringing cell phone is frustrating for the professor giving the lecture. Perhaps other students in the class are irritated as well. The fact is that in certain situations, the ring of a cell phone is annoying and distracting for many people. I know of a judge who has a rule in his courtroom that states that he will confiscate any cell phones that ring in his courtroom. I imagine you get the phone back at the end of the proceedings, but I'm sure anyone who reads this rule posted on his door thinks twice about leaving their cell phone on or in ring mode.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[dubl-u]

People with ringtones on in theaters is a social problem. Social problems cannot be solved by technical means.

That's a reasonable heuristic, but it's foolish to state it as a general law and then make deductions from it. Theft is a social problem, but very few people bother stealing from vending machines these days because the anti-theft technology makes it so hard.

And really, I don't think this is a social problem. The main problem here is not that people are trying to be jerks, it's that they forget to turn off their phones and may thoughtlessly and reflexively answer them when they ring.

Even if you jam cellphones, they're still going to be talking loudly, or having some kid playing his gameboy, or crying, or throwing popcorn, or whatever. It won't solve anything.

Good theory. Alas, my data doesn't support it. The last three times this happened to me, it was in the middle of the movie and the culprit had been quiet up until then and was apologetic afterwards. So although jamming might not, technically, solve anything, it would improve things a fair bit.

What they should do is take the money they were going to use for this, hire a couple of bouncers[...]. End of story.

Ok, figure it costs $5k per theater to set this up. How long can you pay a bouncer per theater on that money? I make it less than half a year before you let the bouncers go. What do you plan to do then?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

So let's see if I understand what you're saying. The babysitter is home with the kids, I'm at the movie with my wife on a long-due night to ourselves, but I'd like to know if there's an emergency. One of the kids gets hurt, babysitter has to call 911, and then somehow let me know. You say the babysitter should have enough sense to walk out of the theater and call me... To do that he/she would have to first get to the theater, walk in, then walk out, then make the call, which still won't get to me because everythign is jammed. Besides, if the babysitter took the time to get to the theater (assuming they have means to get there), she wouldn't have to make a call in the first place. I'm not sure I like your line of reasoning here.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[13thirteen]

When my husband and I go to movies (which isn't very often, frankly, because of people talking during movies) we both turn our cell phones to vibrate. If we get a call, we shield the display to see who it is, immediately hitting the 'silence' button.

I would love it if we could turn in our cell phones, but we need to be able to screen out the non-emergency calls without having to leave the theatre (we would probably each have to leave at least three times - we use our cell phones for our business, plus we have parents that don't really understand that a two-hour movie really takes two-and-a-half hours, so they call back during the last few minutes of the movie), but be able to leave if we get a call indicating that our son (or someone else) requires immediate attention.

I've found most people are polite with their cell phones in the theatre proper. Walking over and standing directly in front of someone talking on their cell phone in a theatre is usually a good way to get them to stop. My pet peeve is the people who think that because they are standing in the entryway of the theatre (inside the doors) they can have a cell phone conversation. Sound carries incredibly well from that area, and it is incredibly annoying that the person is chattering away, loudly and obliviously, for a long time.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Puff Daddy]

Good, so say someone has a phone and knows to set it on vibrate. Now say that person's house lights on fire and they get a call about it. In your version of the world, since other people don't know how to put their phone on vibrate, this guy doesn't get to know about his house until the movie's over. I know its an unusual situation, but it'll be a cold decade in hell before I let the French government say when I can and can't use my phone. Oh, and to all the people who ask what we did before cell phones I ask, "does it matter?".

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Proteus]

Fuck the movie, I want that call.

Here's a thought. Have the sitter call the theater, and the usher can come and get you. It's less disturbing, and people are less likely to abuse it.

Yeah, so it takes a minute longer. None of the scenarios I've seen are likely to suffer from a minute or two delay. People did manage to receive emergency phone calls before cell phones. They also did things like find capable baby-sitters.

Yeah, I can see why you'd want to know ASAP if little Betty broke her arm while you were away. Use your cellphone to call the sitter -- outside the theater -- and make sure she knows what movie you're in and what the theater's phone number is. Then, let it be blocked during the film. A delay of a few minutes before you find out about that isn't the end of the world.

In reality, the number of people who get calls from a girl/boyfriend or somesuch during a movie far outnumber those who get emergency calls. So, since the theater is more than willing to convey emergency messages, why have the cellphone on?

I for one really welcome this.

[luvirini]

I have been to many theater preformances where suddenly in the middle there is some totally unsuitable melody ringing from the mobile phone of someone sitting nearby.

For me atleast it causes a loss of the "magic" that I get from a good preformance and thus it really affects the overall impression.

Like once in middle of a serious scene there were double mobilephone rings with some really annoying happy tunes at highest possible volume. If I had been armed at the moment there might have been two extra bodies...

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[arose]

I propose a low-tech solution. Warn people that they will be trown out if their mobile rings. Enforce.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Technician]

My old boss told me of a pub he visited. The policy was to leave the outside behind. Right beside the door was a cell phone nailed to the wall with a very large nail. The message was clear. If your phone rings, it goes next to the first one.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[pla]

I propose a low-tech solution. Warn people that they will be trown out if their mobile rings. Enforce.

I've gone to a number of live performances that do something very much like this...

I've heard a number of variations, and seen them carried out about half the time (just the threat helps remind people to act civilized and turn the damned things off)... My favorite (at a play), the entire cast just stopped in mid-sentence, all turned toward the idiot with the ringing phone, and the main actor on stage asked him to answer it, insisting over rude-boy's mumbled apologies, that he please go ahead, take his call, all the rest of us would wait politely.

I have never seen another human turn that shade of red.

Most importantly, about six seconds later (you could almost hear the cogs turning in peoples' heads), a wave of soft little clicks and low bleeps moved across the theatre as all the other potential rude-idiots-that-ignored-the-initial-warning turned off their phones. Truly beautiful.

Who needs technology when plain ol' public humiliation will work? Unfortunately, most for-pay venues don't have the balls to carry through on threats like that.

next, the cafes and restaurants

[davejenkins]

It will be a short hop from here to allowing any business the right to install a cell-phone jammer. Restuarants and certain cafes in the Latin Quarter will jump at the chance to push out that vile modern convenience.

Pretty soon, we will see little icons in windows:
*WiFi ici!
or
*cell non!

Re:next, the cafes and restaurants

[luvirini]

Personally there are times I would welome this too, as long as there are clear signs at the doors telling about it. So i would not go to such a place if I needed to be reachable, but would go if I need to relax without the disturbances they cause.

Yes!

[caitsith01]

Eat it connectivity junkies! The rebellion has begun!

Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7? I would suggest that if you are really that important, you might want to skip the movie and stay in the Oval Office doing your job.

And if a friend or relative is dead or dying, well, if it takes until the end of the movie for you to find out, they'll be just as dead after as they were during. Plus you will have had an extra 2 hours of Matt Damon (or Gerard Depardieu?) induced happiness before the terrible news reaches you.

Basically anything that reduces our addiction to instant satisfaction of our every wish is ok with me. We don't NEED to be hooked up to a communication network all the time. They should also install these things in:

- university lecture theatres
- conferences
- crowded public transport
- you could have one in your house to turn on during mealtimes and other gatherings to encourage actual social interaction with people who are physically present

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Basically anything that reduces our addiction to instant satisfaction of our every wish is ok with me

When do you want it?

Re:Yes!

[quetzalc0atl]

>Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7?

superheroes

Re:Yes!

[luvirini]

Well, I agree on most of these, but not the public transporation part. One of the specific reasons I took often public transportation when in my previous job, was that I could work while traveling, I had my laptop open, and was actually handling email and then making occasional simple calls and such. Now travel with car is just waste of time.

Re:Yes!

[caitsith01]

I really think it's annoying that some people seem to have a problem blocking out things when they don't care to hear it.

So basically you think we should all be like George W Bush? :P

Explain to me how it's not ok for me to be annoyed by some dickwit talking on his phone in the middle of a quiet bit in a thriller that I have paid to see, but it IS ok for you to be annoyed at me for being annoyed?

As for you and your child... well, that's what DVD players are for. Having children involves certain sacrifices, one of which is your ability to go out alone for a while. Either trust your baby sitter or rent a DVD, but don't let your stupid phone ring in my movie!

Re:Yes!

[caitsith01]

The comment about someone dead or dying is absolutely stupid. If someone's been hit by a car and they're not dead yet, but will be soon, I'd rather like to go and say goodbye.

Thank you, your comments are extremely stupid too.

How did people manage as recently as 1990? When people were dead or dying, however did relatives get by not knowing the *instant* their loved ones were crushed by that tractor/mauled by that pit bull/swarmed by those killer bees? What about earlier, say 1900... without phones at all, you would have had to wait a shocking couple of hours for a telegram delivery guy to find you... or in the Old West, you might have had to wait weeks and weeks to hear news of a loved one's passing.

But you can't wait 2 hours? 2 lousy hours. 120 minutes... 180 if it's an Oliver Stone film. Well, maybe you should sit at home crouched over your landline muttering "can't go out... loved ones might die... might miss the call... could all die at any second... can't miss their deaths...". Or maybe you could get out there and live your life without the need for the constant psychological umbilical cord of your mobile phone, taking the outrageous chance that if your entire family is slaughtered by cannibals while you are at the cinema the police will probably fill you in on the parts you missed when you get home.

Better yet, why not kill your family now? That way you wont miss a precious second of it, and I can enjoy The Bourne Supremacy in peace.

Re:Yes!

[Vellmont]

And yes, some calls ARE that important. If I and my wife are out for dinner and a movie sans child, we're using our phones for emergency contact numbers.


I'm sorry, but that's just a load of crap. Everyone is worried about there kid, but unless you're a doctor with ueber-specialized knowledge of your kids deadly medical condition I think others will be able to take care of any emergency better IN PERSON than you can over a cell phone perhaps 30-60 minutes away.

I don't know if you know this.. but before cell phones people trusted their kids to babysitters and didn't sit on pins and needles worrying about little Johnny every single second (and thus needed cell phone contact for some emergency). Ok, some insane parents probbably still did, but cell phones have only seemingly broaded that insane impulse. I recall some episodes of crappy sit-coms making fun of such parents. Children can survive quite nicely for the length of dinner and a movie in the care of others. In the event of true emergencies some babysitters even know to call 911! Believe it or not there are better resources for emergencies than you on a phone (poison centers, 911 operators, and good babysitters).

Re:Yes!

[Kombat]

seriously though, even the theatres aren't a problem if people don't act like assholes.

And therein lies the flaw in your solution.

Re:Yes!

[Kombat]

There are cases where a babysitter may urgently need to contact the parent.

There was a time, not so long ago, when cell phones didn't exist. And guess what? Parents still hired babysitters and went out for the occassional movie. The truly paranoid ones simply stayed home until their kid got a little older.

What's wrong with suggesting parents of today do the same thing? As the GP said, having a child requires certain sacrifices. Suck it up and stop complaining, or don't have kids.

I'm packing my bags

[Magickcat]

If they eventually include art galleries, libraries and restaurants, then I'm packing my bags.

I've seen a person unabashedly use a mobile at a church funeral service. Perhaps churches would be keen on them, however in Australia, most church steeples are used as mobile antennas. In many cases, the cross on the steeple is disguised to match the original building's features.

If I was an alien, I'd probably assume that God had a mobile phone.

So dumb, when we resort to technology

[tod_miller]

Instead of education.

This will not stop idiots who have a 50,000 ansi lumens bright display playing some dumb-ass mobile game right in the corner of your eye when watching a movie (wtf, why did they go to the cinema?)

Also, those stupid giggly-bitches who laugh/scream/cry at the dumbest of moments, or who have not left the house for months on end, and the cinema is their biggest social event, and they catch up on all the gossip until about 10 minutes into the start of the film, at which point the hushes from other cinema goers has long since drowned out thier mind numbing dialogue.

The worst, when the stupid do not use your mobile advert comes on (Orange has some great ones - but trigger happy tv should be commissioned to do them worldwide) people take out thier mobile, check for messages, and then slide them back, not even switching them.

Or if they are on silent, they bloody answer them and talk in that hushed-shouting whisper that is actually about 50 decibels above normal talking.

Using technology to enforce peoples social awareness is lame. Just make it legal to hit them repeatedly with a length of lead piping until they learn.

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[neuro.slug]

Or if they are on silent, they bloody answer them and talk in that hushed-shouting whisper that is actually about 50 decibels above normal talking.

That's some fierce punk-rock concert whispering...

-- n

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[gidds]

Exactly. If the problem is inconsiderate and antisocial behaviour, then fight inconsiderate and antisocial behaviour!

This is exactly comparable to the current fuss about P2P software. Mobile phones have perfectly legitimate and non-infringing uses. (SMS messages, for example. Genuine life-or-death emergencies. Incoming calls where the user doesn't speak, or leaves the cinema before speaking.) Jamming prevents all those, whilst still allowing all the antisocial behaviour people have the rudeness to pull off!

A jammer is just a tool for management too cowardly to enforce a proper nuisance policy.

And of course, this is the thin end of the wedge. If jammers become accepted in cinemas, theatres and churches, they may well spread to restaurants, galleries, museums, shops, cafés, pubs, stations, workplaces...

What's worse is that in this case there is a possible technological measure that would do pretty much what people want. Instead of jamming the phones, how about a short-range transmitter which told the phones to go into 'silent mode', turning off the ringtone, and maybe the microphone, whilst still allowing vibrating alerts, text messages, and maybe incoming calls. It's a bit more technology than phones currently have, but it can't be too hard to implement.

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[gidds]

You DON'T have any right to 24/7 cell access

I'm not suggesting that mobile access be a right. Just that there should be a more important reason for jamming it than just "It gives some people an excuse to make a nuisance of themselves."

Of course people shouldn't rely on their phones for anything absolutely vital. Coverage can be lost due to intervening architecture, weather, or heavy use by others. Batteries run out. Networks go down. And so on. You can't assume you'll be in coverage in restaurants, cinemas, or anywhere else.

But the 'Jam them' reaction makes me very uncomfortable. Have we become so intolerant of others that anything we don't personally like should be banned? Do we want to live in a society where we're only allowed to do things if everyone explicitly agrees?

Remember: you can't force people to be nice to each other. You can only encourage them by example, and where necessary punish gross infringements.

Jamming phones is a coward's way out. If people are making a nuisance of themselves, then ask them to stop it, or have them thrown out. After all, that's what would happen if people spoke loudly to their neighbours in a theatre; why should speaking loudly into a phone be any different? If a kid takes in a handheld game that makes loud beeping noises, then it should be removed or disabled; again, why it different if a phone makes loud noises? Just because something's technically possible doesn't make it a good solution.

Jamming treats people like children. It effectively says "Since some of you aren't using their phones responsibly, we'll stop anyone using one." And, like many other childish reactions, it doesn't teach people anything. If someone got bounced out from using their phone inconsiderately, then they'd learn something from that! But is it right to punish the majority because of a small minority of inconsiderate people?

As I said, it's exactly the same argument as for P2P. In fact, more so -- if you believe the figures, then the vast majority of P2P traffic is illegal, whereas it's only a minority of mobile users who behave obnoxiously. Most people argue that the former should be allowed for the small proportion of legitimate traffic; yet you're asking to jam phones where a much larger proportion of use is considerate!

I understand why you're sick of obnoxious bastards using their phones offensively, and I share your feelings. I just think that jamming is the wrong solution. Use your feelings in a constructive manner! Stand up and tell someone that they're disturbing everyone! If you want to say a big 'Screw you' to them, then do so -- to their faces, loudly and publicly! If necessary, threaten to stick the phone somewhere anatomically impossible! (Seriously. I expect you'll get cheers from most of those around you.)

Rudeness is the problem, so fight rudeness. Don't fight phones, otherwise the rest of us will suffer, and rude people will just find some other way to be obnoxious!

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[DrXym]

It could mean setting up your own "emergency calls only" cell in the cinema and blocking all other frequencies. If this were the case, your phone would 'roam' to the cinema network and patrons would make emergency calls through that. It would be very expensive for the cinema to shoulder the cost and possibly have some interesting legal repercussions.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

It is possible, although not as simple. First put a lot of metal in the walls and ceiling to block all radio signals. (cell phones are nothing more than advanced radios)
Then put a small cell phone tranceiver (a small version of those cell phone towers) inside the room and program it to only allow outgoing calls to the emergency numbers (e.g. 911).

You can

[caitsith01]

Contrary to other replies, you can actually do this. I imagine it's some sort of flag built into the GSM system that forces handsets not to function.

The reason I know you can do it is that there is an area in the building I used to work where signals are intentionally blocked somehow, and my phone comes up with "Emergency Calls Only" when I am in that area.

Re:You can

[SmilingBoy]

The reason I know you can do it is that there is an area in the building I used to work where signals are intentionally blocked somehow, and my phone comes up with "Emergency Calls Only" when I am in that area.

Doesn't it show this in some countries if you have only reception from other operators than your own? (At least that's what I remember from the time I lived in the UK.)

Jam at the network level

[jolyonr]

The best way to do this is to jam at the network level. Rather than having a jammer installed in these places, you actually get the networks to install a short-range cell transmitter/receiver in the building (would need to be carefully placed). The network would control this, so that when a phone is connected via that cell, incoming calls won't get connected (except with operator intervention, so that emergency call you're worried about will get through), but emergency calls can still be made.

In places where there are a great number of cells already, it may even be possible for the networks to triangulate positions, and stop reception of non-emergency calls when they can see that the cellphone is currently within an area on their 'quiet' list.

Best of all (for the networks), they get to be in control and charge for the service.

Jolyon

ps. Somebody print this out and keep it in the Prior Art folder just incase someone tries to get rich :)

Re:First Post?

[Pieroxy]

That is exactly why I am glad this law passed. You are exactly the type of person I despise having seating next to me in a theater.

You will now choose a theater where cells are not jammed, and I will choose one where cells are.

The public will decide.

Re:First Post?

[Poppageorgio]

If you're life is that important, rent a movie and stay home. Why should I be inconvenienced by your need to take calls? I go to movies because, for two hours, I don't have to deal with real life and become immersed in another time or place. I don't like it when somebody interrupts this for me.

emergency

[PerlDudeXL]

In germany the firefighters (usually two fireman walking around and taking care that everything is fine) have to attend theater performances in case of some emergency. I'm almost sure france as similar regulations. Cinemas are something different, but the personal can make emergency calls using conventional phones.

My cell phone doesn't even work in the local cinema. I don't get a signal. and why should I take my cell phone anyway to a movie theater?

I REALLY WONDER

[imsabbel]

how everybody was able to survive 10 years ago, when NOBODY had a cell phone in the cinema or on a concert...

Re:I REALLY WONDER

[mikael]

how everybody was able to survive 10 years ago, when NOBODY had a cell phone in the cinema or on a concert...

Emergency service workers like doctors, anaesthetists and consultants had pagers. This device would allow simple text messages to be received (if not just a telephone number), and could be set to vibrate rather than play a polyphonic tune at 120 decibels.

I think I may have seen one in a museum, but that was a long time ago...

How lame can you get?

[pedestrian crossing]

I would personally be quite pissed that just to watch a movie, I would be out of touch for three hours. Not a good idea.

And I would be quite pissed if you took a phone call while I was trying to watch the movie. Your attitude is so frigging self-important. If you cannot be out of touch for 3 hours while you watch a movie, stay at home!

I swear, you see all of these posts that claim, "I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit. You know what I hear when someone takes a call in a movie theater? I'll give you a hint, 100% of the time it is banal blather. Grow up.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit.

There are people that do earn a living by being reachable 24/7...many of them. The reason you don't notice them is they've had to learn to be discreet about it, or else they would piss off the entire world, affecting their paycheck.

I've been in that position. When some random ass server went down, I got paged to go fix it...4PM or 4AM. Nothing I did would ever qualify as an 'emergency' in some grand humanistic scheme, but if I didn't want to choose between eating and paying school loans next month, it was certainly an emergency to me.

Is this really such a "frigging self-important" attitude as you say? Step back and put yourself in some other people's shoes before you start ranting. I did my best to avoid annoying others when I got called from a movie. I used silent/vibrate and sat as close to the aisles/exits as I could. Next time you are in a movie, notice that many people do get called away. I only started noticing when I was one of them.

However, if I still had that job, I could not afford to see movies in theaters that simply jammed signals, and I'm not alone.

Re:How lame can you get?

[swillden]

I swear, you see all of these posts that claim, "I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit. You know what I hear when someone takes a call in a movie theater? I'll give you a hint, 100% of the time it is banal blather. Grow up.

No, it's you who need to grow up. At some point you're going to acquire some real responsibility in the world, and then you'll begin to understand why people say such things.

In my case, I have four kids. Sure, I get a babysitter who I think is trustworthy, but there are lots of things that can go wrong enough to require my intervention. They're extremely unlikely things, but if they happen I *do* need to know.

Fifteen or twenty years ago, the solution was simple: Parents (and others who needed to be reachable) gave the theater's phone number to whoever might need to contact them and told the theater manager upon arrival that they might get a call. Try that today when you're at the 16-plex with 3000 other people on a Friday night, staffed with 16 year-olds who don't really give a shit what your problems are.

Today, the solution is also simple: You take your cell phone, leave it on and put it on vibrate. If it rings, you look at the Caller ID on the screen. 999 times out of 1000, you put the phone back down and go on with the movie. That other once in a thousand, you leave the theater and take the call.

So, with cell phones jammed, what's the solution? And don't tell me that it's just not to go to the movies. Anyone who argues that either (a) has no idea what being a parent is like or (b) wants to see an increase in the child murder rate.

What really sucks about this situation is that all of the people who argue that they need to be reachable because of their responsibilities are also the people who use their phones responsibly. They're not the problems, but they are the ones most severely punished.

IMO, cell jammers are stupid. It's an attempt to solve a social problem with technology.

The best solution is to stand up and scream Quiet, you asshole! at anyone who talks on their phone or allows it to ring audibly. If someone did this in every theater every time it happened, the problem would pretty much go away. If everyone did it in every theater, the problem would evaporate completely.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Blakey Rat]

Try that today when you're at the 16-plex with 3000 other people on a Friday night, staffed with 16 year-olds who don't really give a shit what your problems are.

Don't be an asshole! Have you TRIED? I usher at a theater in 2001, a brand-new, just-opened theater and yes it was staffed with young people but, you know what? We ALWAYS would note where people expecting calls were sitting, and we would ALWAYS enter the theater if they got a call and tell them about it. You say the statement above but, and be honest, have you TRIED it?

If your attitude to the staff of the theater is anything like your attitude in this post, then it's no wonder they won't help you!

Re:How lame can you get?

[BasilBrush]

The best solution is to stand up and scream Quiet, you asshole! at anyone who talks on their phone or allows it to ring audibly.

And a near fight nearly breaks out, or a slanging match at least. And of course everyone misses 5 minutes of the film. Far better for the cinema loving majority that there is a jammer.

Go to the bowling alley instead.

Re:How lame can you get?

[megarich]

Good "mature" come back.

Anyhow, its the movie theatres RIGHT, yup that's right RIGHT to do what they want with their OWN establishment. Wether you like it or not its not important, what's important they can do it, they can get away with it, and one way or the other you/we whoever is gonna have to live with that decision.

A great idea.

[neuro.slug]

I can tolerate a mobile phone going off in a movie theater, but I shall bring down fiery justice on those who leave their bloody phones on during a live performance. There has to be intervention when people don't have the decency to turn off their damned phones during a classical performance, an opera, or a play. It's not only rude to the audience, but it's also insulting to the performers.

-- n

Re:First Post?

[Tiram]

What the other comments said, and then some. That "occasional beep" may be only a minor annoyance to you, but if it happens smack in the middle of a suspense scene or a romantic moment it's damned irritating to everyone else! If it's that important to you to be in touch all the time, rent a movie instead. Your availability isn't at all important to all the others who paid to watch a movie.

In fact, a mobile beeping is irritating no matter when it happens. And most of them don't just beep, they play beethoven's 5th or Britney Spears' latest "hit". Horrible.

In the meantime, in China...

[Enoch Root]

I live in Shanghai and I don't even bother turning off my cellphone when I go to the movies. Why should I? Nobody does it. Not only that, but if the movie is really exciting, they won't even pick it up until the really exciting part is over. And when they do, they'll walk to the back of the theater and speak on the phone from there, yelling so they can be heard above the noise of the movie.

Unfortunately, even if they DID install scramblers, it wouldn't prevent all the people from explaining the movie to their neighbors. Sigh. :)

This idea sucks.

[syukton]

The problem with cellphones are twofold: People use them where they aren't supposed to (ie, taking calls during a movie) and people forget to turn off their ringers. Why don't we solve THESE PROBLEMS instead of CREATING NEW ONES by eliminating this mode of communication all together?

How about an RFID chip which, based on its proximity to certain defined locations, would automatically switch your phone into vibrate mode, or display a message onscreen such as "Please leave this Quiet Area to receive this call" instead of this draconian jam-all-calls-but-"emergencies" sort of thing. I would like it if I'm in a movie and somebody is trying to alert me of, say, my mom having a heart attack (which *I* consider an emergency), and I could get that notification immediately. It is not too much trouble to step outside the theater, and all things considered, if it's an emergency I'm likely to be leaving the theater ASAP anyhow.

I'm all for making it mandatory that phones automatically switch into vibrate mode when they are carried into libraries, schools, theaters, and so forth. It doesn't necessarily have to be vibrate mode, it could be an RGB LED which flashes a given color (any given color, as it's an RGB LED) depending on incoming call / incoming call from XYZ person / incoming text message / you have new voicemail / whatever. Just as long as it's silent and not so bright as to make anyone freak out in a theater/school/whatever.

The point is: silence. People don't want to be bothered with others around them taking cellphone calls and they don't want to hear other peoples' cellphones ring, but only under certain circumstances. ADDRESS THESE ISSUES DIRECTLY, don't create a blanket which covers these issues and more, a blanket which creates more problems and more public unrest instead of relieving the public as intended.

In sum: this idea sucks and a better one could be had.

Re:This idea sucks.

[Mr_Silver]

In sum: this idea sucks and a better one could be had.

A good point - but, you've completely forgotten a few things:

1. Hardware manufacturers design products 1-2 years in advance. Therefore for the implementation of an RFID chip, you're looking at at least a year.
2. A protocol would need to be devised that all the manufacturers agree on (both handsets and the systems that will trigger them)
3. People would need to purchase these phones. Typically they'd be on high tier phones first. A phones lifetime is approximately 18 months before they are on low tier (ie. your pay-as-you-go mass market) where adopotion is the greatest.
4. You'd need all the phones to adopt this before it would work. The first WAP phone I saw was in 1996 (and i'm pretty sure that they were around before then) and only now is it commonplace enough for companies to sell content through it. That is a lead time of 8 years.

So in short, it's a great idea, but you're looking at 8 years+ before its going to be installed on enough handsets to actually work in the cinema. What is the point of blocking 20% of the handsets, when its one of the other 80% that ring?

Alternativily you could implement signal blocking today which will work on every phone the moment it is turned on.

Sometimes the best ideas aren't the most practical to implement.

What did people do *before* cellphones?

[blorg]

It wasn't that long ago, you know. Did parents never take a night off with a trusted babysitter at home? If you want to, you can call home yourself once or twice to check on things - just not in the middle of the movie!

People who *really* need to be contacted (doctors on call, for example) had pagers; and a blocking system based on a mini-cell station could be configured to allow such urgent calls/text messages through.

And you are quite wrong about the annoyance value of mobile phone conversations - a study has found them to be dramatically more annoying than face-to-face conversations, probably due to the one-way nature.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[DrXym]

It works in Europe just fine (where I am right now). My Irish phone has no problem roaming to Belgium or Germany and picking up networks whether they are affiliated or not. For example if I take my Vodafone Ireland mobile to the UK, it will prefer Vodafone UK, but I can use O2, Orange or T-Mobile too. The phone is preprogrammed with networks it prefers and if they're not found it will pick whatever network will have it.

However networks in the same country might stop customers from competing networks inadvertantly roaming onto their own. I doubt this is out of malice, but is seen as way to prevent the hell that would result from millions of phones winking in and out of each other's networks and furious calls to customer service.

But even so, networks do allow roaming for "Emergency calls only". Your phone will say as much when it can't find it's own network. In other words, you can still dial an ambulance.

I'm not au fait with GSM protocols but I assume that the network says what services it supports when you establish the link, with emergency (outgoing calls) service being the most basic. I also expect that very few GSM operators block any mobile user from this service. Even a deactivated SIM in an old phone can often make emergency calls - something worth trying out before tossing a phone.

So I don't see any issues here. The phone's regular network might be missing (because it is jammed), but the phone will see the "cinema" network and it will start using it. The phone is unlikely to not work when the only network it can find offers some service even if it is emergency calls only.

Re:First Post?

[ExKoopaTroopa]

According to the news on French tv, people such as doctors will be able to receive calls (if ask for it) and everybody will be able to call outside

Faraday cage, anybody?

[shepd]

Why aren't new theatres being built with a grounded screen sandwiched inside the walls? We're not exactly talking megabucks to do this when you're building the theatre, and, AFAIK, there's no law against simply making it impossible for signals to enter a space.

I'm sure someone will say "what about emergency calls?" What about them? Your phone quits when you go in a tunnel, it quits when you're in some buildings, it quits when you're on the fringe of town. And, unlike that theatre, those places won't even be signed as "cellular service unavailable".

Oh yeah, as far as doctors being on 24-7 call missing their major emergency call, there's so many other ways they can miss such a call daily (on the toilet, having a shower, under a tunnel, out of batteries, whaterver) I am 100% certain the hospital has a backup plan (ie: Call another doctor).

Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy people

[caitsith01]

it's not the phone that's the problem, it's those assholes

Well obviously.

How do we manage the 'assholes'? Let them piss us off by taking calls during the movie/conference/lecture? Or block their asshomophone so that their asshole friends can't call them repeatedly to chat about the latest in asshole fashions? I know which I think is better for the non-assholes of the world.

Likewise regarding the silent vibrate feature on most phones - OF COURSE it would not be annoying if people all turned their phones to silent in cinemas/lecture theatres/conferences, provided of course that they didn't answer any calls and start talking. The problem, as you astutely point out, is assholes. They won't remember to turn their phone to silent. How often do you see everyone lunge to turn their own phones to silent when the first asshole's phone goes off? The reason - none of those lunging people (aka 'potential future assholes') remembered to turn their phone to silent either.

Yes, it's considered EXTREMELY RUDE (sic) to take calls in a theatre. This does not stop your average asshole. If I can encourage cinemas and universities to install the Asshol-Blok 5000, with asshole-silencing technology, I will.

Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Amata]

How about emergency personnel, such as EMTs and Firemen? I'm from a rural area, where these people work on a voluntary basis. They get paid per call, so they have "normal" lives, they just get called in for emergencies. There's noone sitting in an office 24/7 just in case something happens, other than the person to relay the calls to the actual workers.

A buddy of mine who is a volunteer fireman has a pager at all times. I've seen him have to take off from all sorts of situations to respond to calls. That would be one person that I *hope* would still be able to get his calls in the middle of a movie theatre.

Other than that I can't think of any other examples, tho.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[caitsith01]

Yeah, but these people are special cases, and special cases can be dealt with individually. As you already noted, pagers are a very good solution, and firemen and other action heroes can wear them all the time on the silent-vibrate function as a matter of course. These people could also get CDMA phones so that they are not on the GSM network like ordinary phone-abusers.

I would still be overjoyed if that non-fireman fucktard three rows in front of me couldn't discuss the weather with his buddy while I'm watching the movie I just paid $15 for.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Amata]

Which leads me to one, main question .

My cell phone is always, always set to vibrate. I NEVER set it to ring. When a call does come in, I excuse myself from the theatre, and answer the call in the thatre lobby. Why doesn't everybody else do the same thing? Simple, common sense.

Because common sense isn't.

What about personal emergencies?

[mccalli]

I keep my phone on the cinema, but on silent. My reason is simple - I have kids, and if the babysitter needs to contact me for an emergency I don't want them to have to wait until after the film. Silent is the compromise - it still vibrates to let me know of the call, and I can leave the room to take it.

This system would block the sitter's call to me, yet that is no less valid as an emergency than a 999 call is.

Nope - I'd like to be in favour of a tech. solution to this problem, but the difficulty in knowing what's important and what isn't cannot be surmounted by base-station filtering. The only answer is just to throw the offenders out.

Cheers,
Ian

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[radja]

tell the sitter you've gone to the movies, and to what theatre. for real emergencies, call the theatre. problem solved.

Re:First Post?

[Pieroxy]

This law passed not just for movies. Theaters, concerts, Opera, every public artistic performance falls under that law: They are now allowed to jam cell phones.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Yeah right. Selfish bastards like you always blame it on others. Not one person in a theatre taking calls, making SMSs, talking to their friends, or disturbing people by their coming and going thinks they are wrong.

It's not the people blaming you for being anti-social that are idiots.

Switch your phone off in the theatre. If you think you are too necessary to someone elses life to be uncontactable for the length of a movie, get a DVD player and stay at home.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

And besides, people are getting far too anal about things these days. It's just a fucking movie.

If it's just a fucking movie, then don't fucking go. It's not place to decide how important an event is to the other people there. I've just visited your blog.

A) You look very young, which probably explains your selfish anti-social attitute.

B) You go on about some concert as if it was the second coming of Christ. Don't you realise it's just a fucking concert?

Here in Denmark ...

[zonix]

In (most) Danish cinemas, just after the trailers and before the movie starts, there's a little funny reminder for people who forgot to turn off or silence their mobiles. It's actually a commercial - a joint effort by various mobile phone service providers.

The lights are dimmed and the screen is completely black. Suddenly a phone rings in some corner of the cinema, only it's not a phone, it's actually coming from the surround sound speakers. One of the commercials has one of those annoyoing teenage girls answering the phone - you know, the kind who is blabbering on and on about everything with one of her friends. :-)

It's very humerous and convincing at the same time. Of course in the end the reminder on the screen tells you to turn of the phone.

IMO, this is great way to handle the issue.

z

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

So the phone vibrates, the person digs into their pocket/purse and brings out their phone, and reads the SMS. And the people next to them and in a 45 degree arc all the way back behind them in the cinema is distracted by this light appearing. Then ordinarily, that person will type in a response, thus extending the distraction. And if they choose to leave, then that's yet another distraction.

People that like cinema go to the theatre to escape for a while. If you don't want to do that, and aren't prepared to cut the umbilical cord for a couple of hours, then don't go to the movies. Watch a DVD.

What do you think people did 10 and more years ago when most people didn't even own a phone? Do you think they never went out because they couldn't afford to be out of touch?

Can I take these jammers with me on a date?

[TheLoneCabbage]

Here's something you won't read too often on /.

#1 pet-peve on a date, just short of picking your nose, is picking up a cell phone.

I take my phone with me, and it goes OFF the second I am within talking distance of my date. If it goes back on again, that means I'm more concerned about a random friend asking me (for the 50th time) what sites are best for downloading mp3s, than I am in the flow of our conversation.

Is there anything more uncomfortable than to be mid-stride in conversation, and having that blasted ring interupt. So now she's giving driving directions to a friend and your picking at your food. (or your nose, as at this point it's a lost cause)

So help me, if that phone rings it better be your family priest/rabbi/immam telling you that your mother/brother/father/sister/dog is dieing.

Now that I think about it, I don't want a portable jammer with me on a date. I want to know as soon as possible that the womman is a classless waste of my time.

Here's a better idea though. Let's install electroshock devices on cell phones, that are like that video game James Bond (Sean Connery) played in "Never Say Never Again". When you start talking it's all good, but as time passes the voltage/pain goes up. If the conversation isn't worth having you hang up before you have to feel the pain of everyone else sitting near you.

Hmm...

[Pakaran2]

If you jam cell phones, won't that just lead to people shouting louder? Knowing most of the cell phone users I do, I can just picture...

(Phone goes off) "Hello? ... Oh, hi, John, they have a cell phone jammer in here. JOHN, I SAID THEY HAVE A CELL PHONE JAMMER IN HERE. CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTER NOW? ... DAMMIT JOHN, EVERYONE IN THE THEATER IS STARING AT ME. ... YEAH, I'D LOVE TO MEET YOU FOR A BEER, BUT I'M IN THIS MOVIE FOR THE NEXT HALF HOUR. Oh, never mind, they just dragged me out by my shirt collar. ... Yeah, there's much better reception out here, where do you want to go?"

Re:Pointless

[Moskit]

That comment is pointless, no insightful.

"Emergency calls" means for example that if someone at the audience has a heart attack, it is possible to call emergency right away, even if jamming is active for other calls.

It doesn't apply to receiving calls from outside. While I agree that people "on-call" shouldn't go to the cinema, original poster most likely misunderstood the intent.

France already has phone jammers

[2$ Crack Whore]

I live and work in Toulouse, and I was somewhat surprised at this article - there already are phone jammers operating in cinemas here, possibly illegally?

It's a good idea though, there is no need to have a mobile phone when watching a film ;-)

Re:First Post?

[pedestrian crossing]

For some people mobiles mean freedom from sitting home where you can be called.

Fine, but that does not extend them the right to be available anywhere they go.

It's bad enough that I have to listen to the annoying buzz on my headphones that a cell phone causes when it makes a connection while I am trying to listen to music on my portable music device when commuting. I sure as hell don't want to be unnecessarily disturbed when I have paid to see a movie/performance.

Also, people who are on call either signed up for it, or are getting paid a premium to be on call, so it is their problem, don't make it mine!

Re:Mod parent up

[tha_mink]

A lot of people are missing the point.

Emergency calls OUTSIDE, people.

RTFA man, it says

"Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

It says nothing about emergency calls OUTSIDE.

Excellent idea !

[TractorBarry]

This is an excellent first step.

Next I'd like to see the use of mobile phones being given the same social status as smoking i.e. not allowed in enclosed public places such as pubs, restaurants, theatres, buses etc. etc.

If you want to make or receive calls you can go outside with the smokers. (Actually wait a minute I'm a smoker so fsck that, they'll have to have the other side of the entrance)

In the case of trains there should be a single carriage in which you can send and receive calls.

For fucks sake society functioned perfectly well before these intrusive, obnoxious devices. If I were to start carrying round a trumpet and intermittently playing it tunelessly and loudly then shouting away to myself I'd get arrested/battered pretty quickly.

As usual its not the technologys fault but the fucking morons who are misusing it...

Now what I'd really like is a portable, unobtrusive, mobile jammer that would put a 5 metre "Phone disruptor" screen around myself.

Necessity

[Tom]

Very good. A step into the right direction.

Funny coincidence, I've started shopping for a jammer today. Yesterday's train ride was the final drop. When will people learn that your private interest is not more important than the comfort of the 50 other people on the train?

I would expect that people talking on the phone in a crowded, public place would at least have the basic courtesy of not speaking twice as loud as everyone else.

And it's not like it's impossible or hard to do. I was in Tokyo last year, and while everyone there has a cell phone, I never, ever, found anyone using it in an obnoxious way. There were no loud rings, and people talking on the cell phone talked to quiet that they were no disturbance even to those standing nearby.

All it takes is a little respect for your fellow humans.

Until then, I want my jammer.

Why not do the opposite of jamming?

[RedLaggedTeut]

Why not do the opposite, install a cell repeater station that fakes a call to every cell phone that is switched on, with the message (voice+SMS) "Please turn off your mobile phone. Seems you forgot to turn it off. Thank you."

As a movie operator, check now that all in the audience have turned their mobiles off( no ringing anymore).

As the audience, "ask politely" that people with mobiles on turn them off.

So people can still receive SMS and voice, but switch off the signal and switch on the vibration alert.

The answer is called a pager

[SmallFurryCreature]

Far simpler and far more reliable, since it consumers less power and doesn't need to transmit it needs very towers.

Set it to vibrate. When it goes off the doctor leaves the theather and makes the call. All problems solved. Just like they do it already and did it long before cell phones existed.

Performer's perspective

[kottos]

I think that this is great. I'm a classically trained musician and a sound engineer so I spend a lot of time either performing or recording concerts. When I'm onstage, I'm already a bundle of nerves and have to concentrate like hell for fear of messing up. Whenever I hear a phone go off, it is very distracting. I can ignore it and carry on, but it does throw you for a moment. 99% of the time it won't result in any audible wobble, but if it happens at the wrong time it can throw you completely and you screw up bigtime. When I'm recording, it is even worse. Even if somebody has their phone on silent but are sitting close enough to some of the gear, you can get the lovely du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du-duuuuuuuuuu sound captured in your recording. Again, this happens very rarely, but when it does I have to be physically restrained... I also lecture at a university - whenever students use their phone in class, it shows a distinct lack of respect for me and for the other students, some of whom are finding it difficult enough to follow the course content as it is.

Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[RobotRunAmok]

The funniest thing I have read today -- and probably for the week -- was you putting "technicians at your small hosting company" in the same sentence as "doctors, fire fighters, [and] people waiting for an organ transplant." It is, as they say in The Biz, "comedy gold."

(I have this image of weary, grim-faced grimey first-responders -- the firefighter in helmet, with his axe; the policeman, in cap, with his gun drawn; the doctor, stethescope around his neck, medical kit in hand; all emerging slo-mo through a thick curtain of smoke that blankets a rain-slick urban landscape. Background sound effects include sirens wailing, women sobbing, a toddler crying out for her mommy, the crackle of a police radio, maybe even the chum-chum of helicopter rotors overhead. Soundtrack is something suitably somber, like Enya's "Only Time," or perhaps a solo bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace." Suddenly, a high-pitched cry cuts through the scene and the mood: "Hey Guys!! Wait Up!!" The battle-weary first-responders turn slowly to see a technician from a small hosting company, "Buckaroo Banzai" baseball cap on head, router under his arm, racing out of an otherwise abandoned movie theatre (Marquee: "Star Wars Marathon!") to join them. The emergency-response professionals then look on in helpless horror (and a smidge of amusement that will haunt their consciences for months to come) as an Armored Personnel Carrier loaded with a troop of National Guardsmen barrels around the corner and flattens the hapless tech into the damp asphalt.)

Yeah, sure, I got better things to do then give it away on /., but you inspired me, dude, and for that I thank you.

Re:Emergency Calls? -- True Friend

[Anonymous Coward]

Did anyone else pause while reading this?

I've had fairly serious things happen, such as my friend trying to call me when his brother died because he needed help moving the body.

Do you live in New Jersey? Oh well, you know what they say "A friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body."

The FRENCH are enforcing courtesy?

[erik_fredricks]

Wow. They MAY actually be ahead of us in some respects.

Sorry, but I'll repeat what's already been said here: if it's so $%&*ing important, take care of it elsewhere. You have no right to inflict your lack of courtesy on others.

The last time I went to see the Emerson Quartet perform in Atlanta (which has the rudest audiences I've ever seen), the whole experience was repeatedly interrupted by ringing and "hushed" conversations. It screwed up the audience's (and worse) the performers' concentration and made the whole performance an excercise in frustration. I paid sixty bucks--I deserve to enjoy it.

Re:First Post?

[swillden]

The obvious thing to say would be "And before pagers?"

Before pagers people called the theater and the manager or an usher came into the theater to find you. Hopefully, you told the manager this might be an issue so he could see where you sat. I was in a couple movies when I was young where the theater got an emergency call and stopped the film and turned the lights on so the manager could announce the names of the people who had an emergency phone call.

A vibrating cell phone and a small lighted screen are much, much better. For everyone.

easy

[RMH101]

faraday cage in the theatre, and a GSM picocell that only routes emergency (i.e. 911 or 112 in Europe) calls going OUT to the emergency services - everything else blocked. This is pretty easy: the same thing is effectively happening (albeit without the trivial faraday cage - an earthed liner of chickenwire behind the wall coverings will do this) everytime your GSM phone says "SOS calls only" on the display - it's telling you there's a GSM network nearby, but (usually because your phone provider doesn't have a roaming agreement with that network provider) you can't use it, bar emergencies.

Why must people make this so complicated?

[Guppy06]

1. Vibrate--Nobody else should ever know that your cell phone is ringing, ever.
2. Caller ID--If the call isn't from a number that you know a truly important call would be coming from, don't answer it. For paranoid parents, if the call isn't from your home number, it's not the babysitter.
3. Voicemail--If it's important, they'll leave voicemail. If you're really that freakin' curious, you can check your voicemail without anybody else in the room knowing you're listening to your voicemail (don't talk, just push buttons).

Am I the only person to figure this chain out?

Re:My god this makes me feel old...

[Blakey Rat]

I was a theater usher in 2001 and I did this all the time for people. They were always polite about it, and I was always polite to them... you don't realize how BORING it is to be an usher when all the movies are going. It's like 10 minutes of work between features, then 1:30 of sweeping before the features let out. I'd MUCH rather go fetch people in theaters than sweep the halls. Plus, sometimes I got tipped.

411 on the 911

[Doc Ruby]

This rule is a great boon not only for silencing the cellphone yahoos that I routinely eject, physically, from movie theaters here in NYC. It also creates a new class of incoming emergency calls. Now the State is no longer the only entity privileged to receive emergency calls.

Of course, we're all paying jacked up prices to the State for "911" service, most of which is sucked out to pay for other pork^Wnecessary projects. Incoming emergency calls should cost $5:call, covered by the recipient's insurance in the event of an actual emergency.

Even these calls shouldn't just ring out publicly in the venue. One person's emergency is another person's irritating conversation about whether to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home. All these jammers ought to set all phones to silent/vibrate, and allow emergency calls to vibrate for 30 seconds, then ring out loud for another 30s if unanswered at first. If the call is about groceries, maybe their insurance will cover them when I "help them out of their seats" to tend their "emergency".

Unjustly penalized

[edsterino]

Why should I be penalized just because some retard either can't figure out how to turn his phone to vibrate or thinks everyone should hear Mozart's "Ode to the Piezoeletric Buzzer"?

You get penalized for the same reason other decent people do because they do the decent thing:
- You pay higher insurance because there are uninsured drivers
- You pay higher taxes because you need a police force because there are criminals out there
- You pay higher taxes because some people don't pay their share
- You die younger because other people smoke
- You die younger because of pollution
- In Singapore, you can't buy gum because a small number of dickwads used to spit their's on the sidewalk. (I imagine there are similar statutes closer to home but none come to mind)
... and so on ...

It sucks. It would be nice if some of these things got rolled back once society got the message but that unfortunately rarelh happens.

Re:Trust the french

[Craig Davison]

Actually, this is exactly what you'd see in your libertarian fantasy world. The government is _not restricting_ the freedom of the theatres to block cellphone signals if they wish. It's private property.

"Taking away freedom" would be for the gov't to make it illegal for any business to implement this, or forcing all businesses to implement this.

Somehow...

[SquierStrat]

Somehow, I'm not upset. Wish they'd do it here! I'm sick of going to a movie and some 12 year old starts having a cell phone coversation in the middle of the freakin movie! I don't see where it's even an issue...just tell the customers you're doing it before hand and if they don't like it, then go away.